Reddit reviews Mel Bay Splitting the Licks

Rather than randomly throwing licks at the song, get Splitting the Licks by Janet Davis. Its a step by step breakdown of how to go from the chords of a song to creating a bluegrass banjo arrangement of it.

https://www.amazon.com/Mel-Splitting-Licks-Janet-Davis/dp/0786665297

http://www.drbanjo.com/banjo-newsletter/2010-06-secrets.php

http://www.drbanjo.com/banjo-newsletter/2010-11-finding-the-melody-finding-chords-cleaner-bar-chords.php

Disclaimer: I'm a noob on the banjo, but my teacher showed me this book which guides you through the process of how to make a melody into a scruggs-style tune. It's very good.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Splitting-Licks-Janet-Davis/dp/0786665297/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1467820630&sr=8-1&keywords=splitting+the+licks

Sidenote - for banjo, the scruggs book actually ain't that great, it's a good introduction but seriously you will get a lot lot more out of Janet Davis "Splitting the Licks", highly highly recommend:

https://www.amazon.com/Mel-Splitting-Licks-Janet-Davis/dp/0786665297